HUMAN BOCAVIRUS CO-DETECTION IN OUTPATIENTS WITH ACUTERESPIRATORY INFECTION BY MULTIPLEX RT-NESTED PCR

Abstract

Surveillance and early diagnosis of viral Acute Respiratory Infection (ARI) have been shown in timely administration of antiviral drugs, to decrease the duration of outbreaks and lower total costs due to illness.The advantage of the molecular tests has been established with respect to conventional methods, includinghigher specificity and sensitivity, quicker results and high throughput. Our study was designed to determinethe HBoV distribution and establish both the prevalence and the seasonal circulation of the respiratory viruses in outpatients with ARI. A total of 309 respiratory samples between January and December 2010were analyzed by multiplex nested-PCR method for five viruses and qRT-PCR for influenza viruses. Viralpathogens were detected in 189 (61 %) of samples. RSV (36 %), AdV (17 %), HBoV (10 %), Flu (6 %) andHMPV (3 %) were the most prevalent. At least one respiratory virus was detected in 161 samples (52 %).Co-detection with two or more pathogens was present in 28 samples (9 %). Co-detection between HBoVand other respiratory viruses were found in 18 out of 32 HBoV-positive specimens (56 %). Dual detectionwas observed with RSV (61 %), AdV (22 %) and Flu A(H3N2) (6 %). Triple detection was found with RSVand AdV (6 %) and RSV A and RSV B (6 %). These multiplex approaches have great potential for thedetection of under-diagnosed viruses, helping to determine the roles that pathogens play in a particular infection, guide management regarding treatment and nosocomial transmission and enable optimization ofsurveillance strategies.